SWK

Remember Star Wars Kid? Check out Lucas with a Swiffer.

Still Life of Boy with Necklace + Haiku

happily he wore

my necklace around his wrist

and proudly strutted

until he realized

necklaces make loud, fun noise

when thrown violently

Progress

I'm teaching Lucas how to use a spoon. I'd say this attempt was successful.

"How to Survive a Toddler"

Yep. I Googled this phrase.

I didn't think to do it a few days ago when Lucas figured out how to reach up and open the front door handle and sneak out silently while I was brushing my teeth, causing me to panic and run out of the apartment barefoot with a mouth full of toothpaste -- locking us out.

Or early this morning when I caught him swishing his hands around in the toilet water.

Or at breakfast when he knocked a spoonful of oatmeal out of my hand sending oatmeal flying cross the floor, table and me.

Or today when I was cooking lunch, and Lucas waved bye-bye and walked into the bathroom shutting the door behind him... and I opened the door moments later to find him standing calf-deep in pooled toilet paper, huge grin on his face.

It didn't cross my mind after lunch when I was trying to load the dishwasher and Lucas pulled the silverware basket out and ran away with it. Or when he pulled the bottom tray of the dishwasher off the track onto the kitchen floor. Or when he was trying to climb up on top of the open dishwasher door and get inside. Or when he pulled one of the wheels off the rack and put it in his mouth and walked away with it.

I thought about it afterwards, when I was trying to change the wriggling child's full, poopy diaper, and he shoved a spatula (stolen from the dishwasher) so far into his mouth that he threw up chunks. It was at that moment that I thought to myself, I'm going to Google "how to survive a toddler" as soon as I get him down for his nap.

Baby Cam

So we were just hanging around, making little movies we could send to grandparents like this one...

...When Lucas decided he wanted to be on the other side of the camera, so he grabbed the iPhone and took off.

He watched this over and over again and laughed every time.

Lucas Chasing Birds

This is from a visit to the playground on 10/24. Lucas saw all the little sparrows flitting around and decided to chase after them. It's fun to look back just a couple weeks and see how much his walking has improved.

Lucas Turns 1!!!

This photo is at June's birthday party (born the same day!). Our sweet friends sang to Lucas too. Thanks Josh, for getting this great photo! 

Mad Man

There. Immortalized on this blog. Forever.

3 things about this video

1) Lucas has learned how to jump in his crib and does this every day. Pretty entertaining.

2) Lucas LOVES his blanket, but only this one. He won't sleep without it (trust me, I've tried). He grabs it and cuddles it. He throws it over his head and burrows in it. He piles it into a big ball and buries his face in it, and when he comes up for air, he's always grinning ear to ear. It's the only thing I've seen that will bring him instant joy -- just a glimpse of this blanket is better than any bottle, toy or pacifier. Which brings me to the third thing.

3)  Lucas does not -- nor ever did -- use a pacifier. But in my many failed attempts to get him to use one early on (I thought maybe it would help him settle down at night to sleep better) we ended up with several pacifiers of multiple varieties. We kept them around because he likes to play with them. It's only been in the past couple days that he's finally figured out that the squishy part goes in your mouth and you can suck on it. He's not good at it (it usually falls out within seconds), but should I be worried? Should I round up all the stray pacifiers now and dispose of them so he doesn't develop a late pacifier habit in his toddlerhood?

Mommy's Little Helper

Little cheeser in a self portrait. J/K. But it looks like he took it himself!

You know something's going wrong when it gets too quiet. The other day, I was on the computer and suddenly realized that I hadn't heard Lucas chatting or banging something for a while. Usually this kid is in constant motion and jabbers nonstop (brag moment: even the pediatrician couldn't get over how talkative Lucas is). So I immediately called his name and heard some scurrying going on in the BATHROOM.

NOOOO!

This time, miraculously, the toilet paper roll was still intact, but Lucas had found the toilet brush and was swinging it around. The floor was sopping wet, and there was water all over the toilet seat. He was enjoying "cleaning" so much that when I pulled him away and shut the door he threw a royal tantrum, the likes of which I have never seen before. It took a really long time and presenting multiple toys to get him to be happy again. And even then, he'd still crawl to the bathroom and bang on the door for me to open it.

One of these things is not like the other.

Besides doing stuff in the bathroom, Lucas's other favorite activity these days is hiding things or putting them in tight spaces. I watched him with a toy the other day. It dropped and rolled under our club chair, so he pulled it out, looked at it, and then put it back under the chair and crawled away. When I looked underneath, he had four other toys stashed in that exact location. Like he was saving them. He remembers where everything is, and I'm continually finding toys and other items that have been inserted into unusual locations (the hamper, packages of seltzer, Daddy's shoe, etc).

Lucas also carries with him some type of "tool" wherever he goes. Usually it's a spoon or one of the locks meant to baby proof the cupboards (oops). These tools are used for pointing at things, banging on things, touching Mama or getting Mama to pretend to eat them, pushing food off the tray of his highchair, getting at things in hard to reach places (under the bed or on the table), dropping down impossible to reach places (the radiator vents) and chewing on.

He's a funny kid. We love him.

Lucas Loves His Daddy

This morning, for the first time, Lucas cried when his dad left for work. We did the ceremonial good-bye hug, kiss and wave, and after Daniel shut the door behind him Lucas started wailing -- the same kind of tantrum-ish cry he does when we take something away from him that he really wants (e.g., power cords).

I thought maybe he was tired and that it was just coincidence that Lucas started crying when Daniel left for work, but when Daniel got home tonight around 9 p.m., Lucas woke up elated to see his father. And he screams every time Daniel leaves the room. If I go in to calm him, Lucas looks over my shoulder expectantly watching the door for Daniel's re-entrance. It's after 10:30 and Lucas still hasn't gone back to sleep.

Guess we're entering the separation anxiety stage. So glad I'm not the one leaving for work anymore!

Team Edward?

The lady at the hardware store started giggling and making a fuss over Lucas today. He's a friendly kid and smiles at everyone, so he usually gets that kind of reaction from strangers. I didn't pay much attention to what he was doing until she called her husband over to show him the baby's "fangs." Either his teething is getting out of control or we've got a major Twilight fan in the house.

Lucas Got a New Bed!

And this is how he sleeps in it:

Here's a close-up:

He's been sleeping this way since he was a newborn and could wriggle himself out of a swaddle. I've long since gotten over that he seems to be creating a breathing emergency for himself each time he falls asleep.

Father's Day

This was Daniel's first Father's Day. I hope he enjoyed it - despite my making the WORST MEAL I'VE EVER MADE. (I read online about 'massively salting' - their words, not mine! - your steak to make it tender, then rinsing the salt off and grilling it. We ended up with massively salty, yet tender, steak. Gross!) If anything, it was memorable.

At least breakfast was good. Daniel got German oven pancake with fresh peaches and Greek yogurt, and a berry smoothie.

And then he got to open his presents: a few ties and a frame with these photos:

Here are the outtakes:

Daniel is a great dad. And you can tell he just loves being one. He gets Lucas to giggle way more than I can. And Lucas LOVES his dad. Almost every night, Lucas wakes up on his own a few minutes before Daniel gets home. It's as though he has a sixth sense about it. When Dad arrives Lucas smiles and kicks his legs so excitedly that he practically jumps out of my arms into Daniel's. Last night, Lucas woke up after Daniel had already gone to bed. He noticed his dad was asleep and lunged for Daniel grinning with a cheesy smile, trying to get his dad's attention.

Messy Marvin

As a very little kid, that's the name I made up for people I deemed to be messy eaters. And Lucas is one seriously Messy Marvin.

Lucas is gaining quite the appetite these days. Sweet potatoes is a favorite (besides whatever Mom or Dad happen to be eating, of course). He also loves carrots and squash - basically, anything that's orange. Maybe he knows the color looks good on him.

Notice how the food extends from eyebrow to diaper line.

If a bit of food happens to fall on the tray of his high chair, he immediately rubs his hands in it... and then rubs his hands all over his face... and his belly... and his chest.

He always gets distracted by the spoon. He wants to hold it himself.

"I want the spoon! Give it to me! And let me hold that camera while you're at it!"

At this point in the meal, I remove Lucas from the high chair, arms extended, and place him into the bathtub where he proceeds to kick and splash water wall to wall. If anything, this kid is thorough.

Baby Magician

Check out the toy in the first couple seconds of this video. Kid's got raw talent. And maybe a future in the black arts.

And then, he tried to make a phone call.

Snapshot of Lucas at 7 Months

Since a few days after he was born and we realized he would seem to grow from one night to the next morning, I've been asking Lucas to please stop getting so big so fast. His mama needs him to just stay right where he is so I can enjoy every moment. I plead and beg, but he continues to ignore my request.

This kid is looking way too much like a toddler these days. It breaks my heart.

The only consolation is that he keeps getting more and more fun. So here's what Lucas is like at 7 months:

• He's happy. This kid is generally smiling.
• He loves to talk. He's always saying "da da da da" in a squeaky, high-pitched voice. He's proficient at b sounds, l sounds and m sounds (mostly reserved for when he's unhappy). He also discovered he can yell, and he loves to do it in places that echo (like the hallway or elevator). 
• He is eating solid foods. He loves squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and fruits. He wants to eat whatever we're eating and will smile and coo to try to convince us to give him some.
• He's rolling back to front, front to back. He can sit without support, is getting close to sitting up on his own and loves to rock. He's ready to be on the move and has started wriggling/rolling all over the living room. He pushes up on his hands and is looking like he's going to crawl soon.
• He LOVES his dad, and tries to wait up at night for Daniel to get home from work or class. He beams when Dad walks through the door.
• He thinks is fun to mouth Mom and Dad's faces. Maybe he's trying to kiss us? Or maybe he's just trying to give us a taste of what he goes through all day long with us mushing him. He'll also grab our faces with his hands and push his face up against ours to give us Eskimo kisses.
• He loves to snuggle and giggle with Mom before nap time. 
• He recently discovered technology. He always wants to push the keys on the laptop, the buttons on the remote and touch the iPad. 
• His dream is that we would just let him play with those power cords (to the laptop, lamps, phone chargers) that he loves so much. (Remember what happened to the Griswold's cat in the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation? These are the kinds of things that go through your head as a mother!)
• He weighs 20 lbs and has two teeth.
• His favorite things (sure to bring a smile at any time): singing "Wheels on the Bus," the sound a duck makes, and doing "Pat-a-Cake."

Here are some recent photos at the park:

 And a couple videos (promise to ignore the horrendous rendition of "Wheels on the Bus"):

Lucas at 6 Months

Well, Lucas is 7 months old now, so I guess it's time we posted some photos of him at 6 months old. In fact, I guess it's time we started a blog. So here it is.

And here's one of Daniel at 6 months. I can't believe how much this kid looks like his daddy. Sigh. Maybe the next one will look more like me.